Ian Walton

The gay Scottish-American actor John Barrowman kissed another man on live TV last night during the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games as the Queen looked on.

Mr Barrowman, who married his partner, the architect Scott Gill, last year in California, made his gesture at the opening of the games in Glasgow which are open to all members of the Commonwealth, the voluntary grouping of former British empire dominions, which includes Canada and Australia (but not America).

Homosexual activity remains a criminal offence, often with draconian punishment, in 40 of the 53 countries within the Commonwealth, including Uganda, Nigeria, and Jamaica.

Millions of citizens and politicians in those countries were watching last night’s event.

During the first few minutes of the opening ceremony, Barrowman kissed a man waiting at the aisle for him before the pair skipped away hand in hand, in tribute to Scottish wedding venue Gretna Green.

The reaction was overwhelmingly positive, but we’ll let the tweets speak for themselves…